John From Albany – Mets Breakfast Links 7/4/2020

Good Morning. Happy July 4^th.  Happy Birthday to Jose Oquendo, Binghamton Catcher Austin Bossart, and Brooklyn and St. Lucie Shortstop Manny Rodriguez. The 2020 All Star Game is officially cancelled and the Mets are back in Citi Field!

Section Links: Mets Links, MLB Links, Asian Baseball Links, and This Day in Mets History.

Mets Links:

Mets You Tube: Betances, deGrom and Lugo Throw First Bullpens.

Mets You Tube: Catcher BP from Summer Camp.

👀 @JdeGrom19 🏃 💨 pic.twitter.com/gmI418WLdp

— New York Mets (@Mets) July 3, 2020

Seth lu🐐 + ⚾️ = 🧡💙 pic.twitter.com/yu4WVqZB2H

— New York Mets (@Mets) July 3, 2020

The boys are back! #LGM pic.twitter.com/WWY3m8HxyO

— New York Mets (@Mets) July 3, 2020

NY Post: Mets’ Luis Rojas: Yoenis Cespedes has been sprinting.

Mike Lupica Mets.com: Rojas uniquely qualified for a short season. “A rookie manager who looks young enough to be a rookie player. Son of Felipe Alou. Son of a former manager the way the other New York manager, Aaron Boone, is. The Mets have chosen the former manager of the Chosen One Lions. They have believed, as Rojas worked his way through their system, that he was born to this kind of work, and that was before a season that was shortened to winter-ball length. We're about to find out. Fast.”

NY Post: Mets’ Edwin Diaz not ready to give up closer role without a fight.

NY Post: Inside look at Mets’ coronavirus protocols at Citi Field. “First, there would be a standard bag check. But then came the new twists: a quick temperature scan, followed by a waiver that needed to be signed releasing the Mets from responsibility should you become infected by the coronavirus on the premises. Masks were required for entry. The Mets provided extras if needed.”

NY Post: Sanitizer, distance, homers: Inside Day 1 of Mets spring training 2.0.

Gus Livaditis Mets 360.com: The most indispensable Met in 2020.  Gus makes a strong argument that Amed Rosario is one Met they can’t replace.

NY Post: Scenes from a surreal and socially distanced Mets training camp.

Fox Sports: Safe at home: Mets keep distance on 1st day of Citi camp.

Last Word on Baseball: New York Mets Ugly Eleven Losses # 9. Benitez Blows Save…September 23rd, 2001 vs the Atlanta Braves at Shea Stadium.

Jason Fry Faith and Fear in Flushing looks back at Greg Jefferies.

Metstradamus: The Alternate Universe: Padres at Mets 7-3-2020.

Rising Apple: Mets made the right decision to not trade Dominic Smith prior to 2020.

Mike’s Mets: It Will Be Different, Not Easy.

Amazing Avenue: Steven Matz could be make or break for the Mets in 2020. With so little time, Steven Matz needs to tap into his potential or risk sinking the team.

Reflections on Baseball: Luis Rojas Gets Points For Keeping It Close To His Short-Season Chest.

12up.com: Mets Not Including Any of Their Top-5 Prospects in Player Pool is Stupid.

Metsmerized Online: Rick Porcello’s Strong 2019 Finish Is Encouraging.

MLB LINKS:

MLB Trade Rumors: MLB Cancels 2020 All-Star Game; Dodgers To Host In 2022.

MLB Trade Rumors: Trout: “I Still Don’t Feel Comfortable”. “Honestly, I still don’t feel comfortable with the baby coming,” Trout told reporters today on a Zoom call (link via USA Today’s Bob Nightengale). “There’s a lot of things on my mind. I’m trying to be the safest and most cautious way to get through the season. It’s going to be tough.”

Tim Kurkjian ESPN.com: 100 Reasons why Baseball can’t destroy itself.

AP News: 31 MLB players, 7 staff test positive for COVID-19, or 1.2%.

MLB Trade Rumors: Giants infielder Luis Madero has tested positive for COVID-19.

MLB Trade Rumors: Padres Outfielder Tommy Pham Tests Positive For COVID-19.

MLB Trade Rumors: Twins Willians Astudillo Tests Positive For COVID-19.

MLB Trade Rumors: Delino DeShields Jr. Tests Positive For COVID-19.

MLB Trade Rumors: Rangers’ Brett Martin Tests Positive For COVID-19.

MLB Trade Rumors: Blue Jays Heading To Toronto For Summer Camp.

NY Post: The Cleveland Indians are considering a name change.

For a veteran minor leaguer, being included on the 60-man player pool could be worth tens of thousands.https://t.co/ZF4cHrER5z

— Baseball America (@BaseballAmerica) July 3, 2020

Asian Baseball:

Yesterday in Japan:

DeNa 5 Yakult Swallows 4 Nori Aoki 1 for 3, 2 runs scored, 2 walks (Box Score).

Nori Aoki is back in LF for Yakult for today’s game (Box Score).

Here is the Japan Baseball Scoreboard.

Yesterday in the KBO:

Kia Tigers 8 NC Dinos 2 Aaron Altherr 2 for 3 with a walk, Drew Gagnon. 6.1 innings in the win for Kia, 2 runs, 6 hits, 2 BB, 5 Ks. (Box Score).

Today in the KBO.

Chris Flexen is off to a tough start for Doosan.  4 innings, 9 hits, 6 runs (Box Score).

Aaron Altherr is back in CF for the NC Dinos (Box Score).

Here is KBO’s Scoreboard.

Yesterday at Mack’s Mets:

Reese Kaplan -- Filling a Scrap Heap Taxi Squad.

Tom Brennan: Mets Will Thrive With The Delightful DH.

Mike's Mets - Rob Manfred Inserts Foot Firmly in Mouth.

Metstradamus - The Alternate Universe: Giants at Mets 7-2-2020.

Mack’s Blast from the Past: Mets Minor League Report – July 4, 2013: Las Vegas (45-39) falls to Tucson (47-40) 6-5. Jacob deGrom took a beating: 5.0 IP, 6 R, 8 H, (HR) BB, 6 K.; Wilmer Flores: 2-5, 2B, RBI.

Binghamton (52-30) nips New Hampshire (40-45) 7-6. Logan Verrett got off to a bad start, allowing 4 R, 3 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, K, in 2.2 IP. Jim Fuller, (W, 2-0) on the other hand, was outstanding, tossing 3.2 perfect innings with 6 K. Pedro Feliciano was also perfect in his 1.0 IP, and Jeff Walters (S, 22) earned his league leading 22nd save, despite giving up a R on 3 H after coming in with 1 out in the 9th. Danny Muno flexed his muscles, going 2-4, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 2 R.  You read right – Danny boy batted in all 7 B-Mets runs.

Today in Mets History Per Ultimatemets.com:

Born on this date:

• Jose Oquendo (1963)
• Austin Bossart (1993)
• Manny Rodriguez (1996)
• Zachary Hammer (2000)

Transactions:

New York Mets sold Butch Metzger to the Philadelphia Phillies on July 4, 1978.

New York Mets signed free agent Miguel Batista on July 4, 2011.

National Pastime.com: 

1972

In front of a large holiday crowd gathered at Shea Stadium for a doubleheader against San Diego, Tom Seaver takes a no-hitter into the ninth inning for the second time in his career. After getting Dave Roberts to ground out to second base, Leron Lee singles up the middle to spoil the no-hit bid of the 27 year-old Mets right-hander, who has to settle for his fourth one-hitter when he induces the next batter to hit into a game-ending double play.

1985

With a double in the first, a triple in the fourth, a homer in the eighth inning, Keith Hernandez completes the cycle with a single in the twelfth frame of a 19-inning contest with the Braves. The Mets first baseman's four hits, all off different pitchers, contribute to New York's 16-13 early morning victory at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

1985

"If he hits a home run to tie this game, this game will be certified as absolutely the nuttiest in the history of baseball." - JOHN STERLING, TBS broadcaster commenting to his partner Ernie Johnson about Rick Camp’s at-bat. The Mets outlast the Braves, finally winning the game 16-13 in 19 innings, after Rick Camp, a weak-hitting hurler with a .060 average and 83 strikeouts in 167 at-bats, hit an improbable two-strike, two-out homer off Tom Gorman to tie the game in the bottom of the last frame. Shortly after the game ends at 3:55 in the morning, the approximately thousand fans left in Atlanta Fulton County Stadium stay to see the pre-dawn fireworks which awaken and frighten many of the ballpark's neighbors.

2006

Billy Wagner becomes the 20th pitcher baseball history to record 300 career saves. The significant save for the Mets' southpaw, who has also played for the Astros and Phillies, is his sixteenth of the season.

Baseball Reference:

1967: The Mets end a 19-game losing streak to Juan Marichal with their first win against the Dominican Dandy, 8 - 7. Marichal's win streak started in 1962. Jack Fisher is the winning pitcher.

1972: Leron Lee singles in the 9th to break up Tom Seaver's no-hitter, but the Mets shut out the Padres, 2 - 0, in the opener. Seaver strikes out 11. The Pads take the nitecap, 4 - 2, as Nate Colbert hits his 16th homer.

1979 - The Phillies' Steve Carlton shuts out the Mets, 1 - 0, on a one-hitter, but the Phils manage to lose three other hurlers on the same day: Larry Christenson pulls a groin muscle, Dick Ruthven goes on the disabled list, and Randy Lerch fractures his thumb in a brawl.

1985 - In a marathon game that borders on the surreal, the Mets endure two rain delays and 6:10 of playing time to beat the Braves, 16 - 13, in 19 innings on Fireworks Night in Atlanta. The Mets take a 10 - 8 lead in the top of the 13th inning, only to watch the Braves tie it up. The Mets score again in the 18th, but relief hurler Rick Camp (a .060 hitter who is batting because Atlanta has no more position players available to pinch-hit) ties the score with his first major league home run on a two-out, two-strike pitch in the bottom of the inning. No pitcher had ever homered that late in a game before. Finally, the Mets erupt for five runs in the 19th off Camp and Atlanta can respond only with 2. Keith Hernandez hits for the cycle for the Mets, and the game ends at 3:55 A.M. on July 5th, the latest finish in major league history. At 4:01 A.M., the post-game fireworks display begins, causing local residents to think the city is under attack.

2012: The Phillies' Cliff Lee finally earns his first win of the year in beating the Mets, 9 - 2. He is now 1-5 in 14 starts, and his lack of production has been one of the reasons the Phils have fallen behind the pace in the NL East.

Centerfield Maz: Remembering Mets History: (1985) Mets Beat The Braves In A 19 Inning Classic In Atlanta.

Centerfield Maz: Remembering Mets History: (1972) Tom Seaver Throws Independence Day One Hitter.

Centerfield Maz: Remembering Mets History: (1967) Fourth of July - Mets Beat Juan Marichal & The San Francisco Giants.

You tube:

7/4/1985: Here is the rare WOR Mets broadcast version of the infamous 19 inning July 4th marathon game from 1985 as presented in an edited replay on MSG in the early 2000s.

7/4/14: d'Arnaud keys fireworks for Mets on Fourth.

7/4/16: Cespedes' go-ahead in 8th completes comeback.

7/14/19: Cano's 4 hits, deGrom lead Mets | Mets-Marlins Game Highlights.

Want more?  Check out https://sportspyder.com/mlb/new-york-mets/news. 

Want something else tracked here each day?  Please leave a comment below.